Request Programme (Cecilia Nilsson / SIRIS Original Theatre)

Kroetz’s understated, unnerving monodrama is tinged with a subtle Swedish tint in this fixating, hypnotic performance. A woman goes about her nightly routine in a sterile, compartmentalised, and meticulously clean apartment. Initial voyeurism creeps towards melancholic realisation, with the gradual accumulation of detail brought about by Nilsson’s nuanced, highly sensitive physical performance. The single teacup; the photo of a dog on the bedside table; dinner for one – all these intricacies progress towards a conclusion in which the fourth wall never feels more concrete. Her silence is met with an equal – almost complicit – silence as, watched by a room full of people, she remains inescapably alone. A stand-out performance as intimate as it is alienating. See it. Be moved.